How to convert wd external drive to apple file systemapfs. For drives used with intelbased macs only, the guid partition map should the option to go for. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive. Tips to help you choose between guid and apple partition. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in thefile explorer window and select format. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems. I cannot install windows 10 on this drive unless i first delete all the data on it and convert it to mbr. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. If you are looking to format a disk that will be shared with windows users, the mbr scheme and msdos fat are the best choices. Rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. How to create a bootable usb drive for macos sierra.
What partition map i should use, guid or apple when formatting external portable harddrive. For the installation of mac, the hard disk partition. You should be able to select apm, guid, or mbr from the dialogue that appears. If it says guid partition table, you can format the drive by selecting mac os x extended journaled in the format popup menu, giving the drive a name, and then clicking erase.
To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at. How to convert a drive from the gpt format to the hybrid gptmbr format when using high sierra macos 10. How do i install windows 10 onto a gpt guid hard disk. Whether you are trying to backup mac to an external hard drive, wipe out any personal information and sell the computer, or even use a new operating system, you need to format the hard drive on your mac or pc. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. This article shows you how to download a macos dmg file, format a usb drive using a guid partition table, burn. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example.
How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. The term globally unique identifier guid is also used, typically in software created by microsoft. Dont worry, the following part will show you the solution for windows and mac os users. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Hi, a relative gave me their sandisk cruzer glide 16gb usb drive. In the sidebar to the left, select your lacie d2 drive. A drive may have multiple volumes, and windows 10 doesnt assign a guid to drives. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. A good way to make your drive work for both windows and mac is by assigning a partition to one another. A stepbystep guide on how to partition a hard drive on. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Be absolutely sure you have your files off the driveand that youve selected the correct drive you want to format. In this article, you will get the excellent solution. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers.
Please keep in mind that reformatting will result in the loss of all the data on the hard drive so make sure you back up your data elsewhere before starting. This option is used for all intelbased mac computers. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. If you dont see the partition map scheme option, it is likely because disk utility doesnt list all volumes. Guid partition map or apple partition map apple community. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. I found instructions on how to format the drive on mac, and it appears that it worked ok, mac says that it has approx 16gb space and is formatted with exfat. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. Starting clean how to format new hard drive on windows 10 formatting is an essential task before starting to use a new drive, and in this guide, well show you how to.
You can use this and still share fat32 volumes with a pc, but if. Fortunately, theres a great tool that you can use for free to create bootable macos media on a usb drive in a windows 10 environment. When disk utility loads select the drive usually, the outdented entry from the side list. In this guide, we show you virtually every method to format a usb flash drive and quickly erase its contents or fix data corruption and other issues using windows 10s builtin tools. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. If you run the powershell command in the volume guid section of this article, you will see that the results return more than one guid for. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac in the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. How to convert mbr to gpt on mac os x, such as macos high sierra, macos sierra, mac os x 10. Choose the name as untitled, format as os x extended journaled and select scheme as guid partition map. If youre going to be using the drive for mac devices, you can keep it in the default setting of mac os extended journaled.
Click on the partition tab in disk utilitys main window. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. However, if you want to think about the portability of your drive then you may want to format it differently. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. However, the new macs are shipped with the latest mac os version, macos high sierra which supports the apple file system or apfs. For instance, users want to write data to and read data from, to do a clean installation of the windows system, to get rid of a virus or malware, to erase the data before giving the drive to someone else or throwing it away. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons.
In such cases, you need to simply convert your wd external drive to apfs format. Accidentally installed windows 10 to osx apple community. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. A universally unique identifier uuid is a 128bit number used to identify information in computer systems. This article shows you how to download a macos dmg file, format a usb drive using a guid partition table, burn the dmg to the drive and boot your mac from the usb. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Mac os x will use the guid partition table to format the drive. This will be the name displayed when the drive mounts. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. This disk doesnt use the guid partition scheme error on mac os high sierra installation. Is there anyway to install windows 7 64 bits and mac os x lion in the same hard drive using the guid partition style. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac.
Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. How to create macos bootable usb on windows 10 uubyte. My mac needs the hybrid format in order to bios boot the installed windows operating system. The gpt drive format lets you set up drives that are larger than 4 terabytes tb, and lets you easily set up as many. Click on the apply button, then click on the done button when it activates. Select the drive itself not one of its partitions in the list on the left, go to the partition tab, and click the options. Lets see how to format usb drive on a windows pc first. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. The most popular options are guid and apple partition maps even though some other god ways exist.
This app lets you create a bootable usb drive in a matter of minutes. Many mac owners wonder which partition map is better when it comes to formatting external portable hdd. How do i format guid for a hardrive macrumors forums. I have a hard disk with a gpt guid partition table. This article provides a list of frequently asked questions about the guid partition table disk architecture. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. As earlier stated, you need to first back up your usb drive before formatting the drive as you may not be able to recover the contents again. Disk utility showing guid option for drive format click erase to wipe all the data thats currently on the drive and reformat it for your macos install. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. If your wd external drive isnt in this new format, you wont be able to use it if your mac has been updated to macos high sierra. Open the finder and go to applications utilities disk utility. Frequently asked questions about the guid partitioning.
If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Remember, this will erase all the files on the drive. Tonight im gonna try installing windows by partitioning the drive in sierra installer to make it hybrid. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. Formatting cruzer glide for windows and mac sandisk forums. This tool allows you to manage the partitions on drives connected to your computer internal ones or external ones connected via usb. Click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record. Now, you can follow the steps to be highlighted below to get it successfully formatted. To begin with, it depends on the type preferred by the user. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click.